20-05-2025
Apollo graduates class of 2025
Rabia Hanafi, Shoaib Hanafi and Omid Hanafi came to Owensboro and Apollo High School in 2021, after their family was forced to flee Afghanistan.
The family fled that country 'when the Taliban took over Afghanistan,' Rabia Hanafi said Monday morning.
'Our lives were in danger because our father worked at the (U.S.) Embassy,' she said. 'There were no women's rights, no school for girls. My father wanted us to continue our studies and graduate' high school.
When they arrived, the students knew very little English. Shoaib Hanafi, who was close to graduating in Afghanistan, had to start over as a freshman at Apollo High School.
Monday evening, the siblings were scheduled to walk the line as members of Apollo's class of 2025 at Eagle Stadium.
The Hanafi family were taken in by the students and teachers at Apollo, Rabia Hanafi said.
'It felt like we didn't belong at first. But when we saw the people were so nice and kind to us,' the school began to feel like home, she said.
Michael Woosley, the class' Honor Graduate, transferred to Apollo from McLean County High School when he was a sophomore. Woosley traveled from McLean County to attend Apollo every school day, and said the family's decision to send him to AHS was the 'best thing' that could have happened.
'I made so many great friends,' Woosley said Monday morning.
Woosley said of Apollo's teachers and staff, 'so many people put their faith in me, and helped me grow as a person.'
Woosley was a member of marching band his sophomore and junior years, was a member of the archery team, and was selected to be JROTC's student commander his senior year. Woosley and Rabia Hanafi were both members of National Honor Society and the Beta Club.
'We are so happy we've had the opportunity to study,' Rabia Hanafi said. Later, Rabia Hanafi said teachers at Apollo helped her come out of her shell in terms of speaking.
'I have such good memories with teachers. I was very uncomfortable speaking with everyone, and they encouraged me,' she said.
Shoaib Hanafi, who will be studying auto repair at Owensboro Community & Technical College, said he will miss his friends and teachers at Apollo.
'I'm feeling good,' Shoaib Hanafi said about graduation. 'I will miss this.'
Rabia Hanafi, who will major in biology and pre-med at Kentucky Wesleyan College in the fall, said of her years at AHS, 'We are so happy we are graduating.' Of Apollo, she said, 'we feel like we're home.'
Woosley, who plans to study criminal justice at Kentucky Wesleyan College and then join the Air Force, said leaving Apollo as a graduate is bittersweet.
'I'll feel sad in the moment' of graduation, Woosley said. 'I will definitely miss the place.
'I feel that every teacher cares,' he said. 'Every teacher and staff member cares, and that's what makes Apollo so special.'
As Honor Graduate, Woosley was chosen to address his fellow graduates. Woosley said the graduates are ready to meet the world.
'What I love about the class of 2025 is the outstanding qualities (the students) have,' he said. 'They can all be a leader ... Putting their foot in the door and standing out, each of them can do that.
'No one can stop them,' Woosley said.
